“In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried” by Amy Hempel is a very sad story where the main character is pre-mourning the looming death of her best friend who is dying possibly due to cancer. It is filled with various stories that had happened in their past, mostly related to death and natural disasters. Where the main character is very sad and guilty and hating that her friend is dying, her friend seems to keep a more calm mind in the face of her own impending mortality.
“Was I the only one who noticed that the experts had stop saying if and now spoke of when? Of course not; the fearful ran to thousands… I wanted her to be afraid with me. But she said, ‘I don’t know. I’m just not.‘”
“She was afraid of nothing, not even of flying.”
I feel like the main character has always been amazed by her best friend’s bravery and fearlessness but now she wishes that she wasn’t so, as much because it feels weird that she’s the one freaking out so much and she’s the one not dying.